I got on Facebook after work just scrolling through. As always. Stopping at certain posts. One of those happening to be Greg’s. Seeing Mitchell an hour before at the funeral home across from G&D smacks me in the face. So I message Greg and ask, “Is this about Mitchell? What happened?” After ten minutes of waiting he messaged me back. “Valerie died in a car accident today.” I stood in front of my laundry, staring at the message on my phone. The reality hits me and I fall to the floor in tears. I cry so hard I get sick.

That night I couldn’t sleep, I could only lie in bed crying. Thinking of how this could be true. How could this happen to one of the most important people to all of us? I wasn't there but in my head I replayed what it would have looked like to me. It breaks my heart knowing that one of my closest friends, one of the guys that mean the absolute world to me, had to lose someone that meant the world to him. We have been friends since the third grade. He was there for me when i needed him, no matter what the cause he always had my back. So now like he had been there for me, I have to be there for him.

It put me shock. I cried over and over again thinking about it. The next morning was a drag, getting out of bed and forcing myself to go to work was a very hard thing to do. But I had to. When i got to work everyone there was supportive, and that was my hardest day at work ever. Having the previous night’s event on my mind the whole time. Trying not to let my emotions get in the way.

Valerie and I weren’t like super close, but having to see her with the guy i have been in love with since third grade, she grew on me. I laughed with her, and with Mitchell too of course. He knew how I felt about him, but to him I was just a friend. She was the girl he loved. And I respected that. So I let her in, I became friends with her for him. That was the best thing I could have done my freshman year. Getting closer to her every time we talked. Knowing she loved the same guy I did, made me want to be closer to her. So that’s exactly what I did, and our small friendship grew.

Then, in a blink of an eye, she was gone. Taken from everyone she loved, everyone that loves her. Breaking all of our hearts. And still, today, I think of her and I cry. Feeling the sting of the pain. She really is gone.